CD Self-Test

Alumni | Newsletter | Site Map | Directions

CD Self-Test

How do you know if you or someone you care about is dealing with chemical dependency? Read the questions below and note how many you identify with.

1. When you drink or use drugs, does it take more or less to get you high/drunk then it used to?
2. Do you have blackouts--forget what you have done or said after drinking or using?
3. Do you ever use/drink in the morning to cope with a hangover?
4. Do you make sure you have a supply of drugs/alcohol on hand?
5. Do you ever drink or use more than you intended to?
6. Do you find yourself wishing for a drink or drug to calm down or steady yourself?
7. Do you have a history of relationships with addicts or alcoholics?
8. Do you drink alcohol when taking prescription medication that advises against alcohol consumption?
9. Have you ever gone to work or school drunk or high?
10. Do you use drugs/alcohol to help you sleep or to reduce anxiety?
11. When taking prescription medication, do you take more than prescribed?
12. Have friends or family ever expressed concern over your use of alcohol/drugs?
13. Do you drink alone?
14. Do you hide your drinking/drug use from family/friends or "edit" stories involving your drinking/drug use?
15. Have you ever had a DUI, driven drunk, or had a drug or alcohol related accident or injury?
16. Have you ever tried to stop or cut back on your drinking/drug use only to return to your using pattern after a few days?

Scoring: Take a look at the items you identified with. All of the behaviors listed in the self-evaluation are flags for alcoholic or drug addiction. If you answered yes to more than three of the questions above, please seek professional help or contact us to further evaluate you for chemical dependency.

Question 1 - Increase or decrease in tolerance is an indicator of addiction.

Question 2 - Blackouts/lost time are indicative of late stage alcoholism or addiction.

Question 3 - Hangovers are actually the onset of withdrawal. Substance use in the morning in an effort to avoid feeling the hangover indicates a progression of addiction.

Question 4 - Preoccupation with supply is a characteristic of addiction. Buying more drugs before your stash is gone, or stockpiling alcohol on Saturday night because the liquor stores are closed on Sunday are good indicators that there is a problem.

Question 5 - Drinking more than you intended to or planned on is an indicator of loss of control.

Question 6 - Often, stress, anxiety, and/or unsteadiness are the onset of withdrawal symptoms. Wishing for alcohol/drugs to help "calm your nerves" indicates preoccupation and self-medication, as well as the progression of addiction.

Question 7 - Alcoholics and addicts often find addicted partners/friends--this fuels the denial process allowing them to hide behind "I may drink or use, but I am not as bad as them."

Question 8 - Using alcohol along with prescription drugs is dangerous! It also shows powerlessness over your drinking.

Question 9 - Reporting to the workplace or going to school under the influence of drugs/alcohol indicate powerlessness and unmanageability in your life.

Question 10 - Addicts/alcoholics will often medicate emotional pain, anxiety, and fear. Unfortunately, this self-medication has a paradoxical effect--increasing problems with continued use.

Question 11 - "If one is good-two are better"..........This belief is at the center of addictive thinking!

Question 12 - Denial is an automatic and unconscious component of addiction. Addicts are usually the last to recognize their disease! If you have to insist that you do not have a problem, you probably do!

Question 13 - Drinking alone indicates you are no longer a "social drinker".

Question 14 - Secretiveness, denial, and lies about use are characteristic of active alcoholics/addicts.

Question 15 - Drinking/drugging and driving indicated powerlessness over use, and is part of the unmanageability of active addiction.

Question 16 - Many alcoholics/addicts attempt to temporarily modify their patterns of use to prove to themselves that they have control over their use. Non-addicts/alcoholics don't have to prove they are in control!